Ash and Ruin

The rain tastes like ash tonight. Not the metaphorical ash of a burnt-out world, though that's certainly in abundance. No, this is the actual ash of the Ever-Storm, a perpetual, suffocating tempest that has choked the life out of this forsaken continent for over a century. You are one of the Scavengers, hardy souls who eke out a miserable existence amongst the ruins of what was once a thriving civilization. We call it the Before-Times, a whispered legend of effortless energy, endless food, and skies that actually remembered the sun. Now, we scratch for scraps in the skeletal remains of skyscrapers, fight mutated horrors in the flooded subways, and pray to forgotten gods that the next breath won't be your last. Your name is Aria, and you woke this morning with a familiar gnawing in your stomach and the familiar chill of the damp concrete seeping into your bones. Another day, another desperate hunt for supplies. Usually, you'd be partnered with Kaelen, your childhood friend and arguably the only reason you haven't given up completely. But Kaelen… well, he didn't come back from yesterday's expedition to the Old Market. The pit in your stomach deepens. You tell yourself he's probably fine. Lost. Trapped. Anything but… gone. Yet, the silence in your cramped shelter is deafening, a constant reminder of his absence. Today, you have a choice. Continue to scavenge the immediate area, hoping to find something to trade for information about Kaelen's whereabouts. Or, brave the treacherous Flooded District, rumored to be teeming with resources, but also with the particularly vicious Strainers – mutated humans driven mad by the toxic rain. The weight of your decision rests heavily on your shoulders. Every choice in this blighted world has consequences, and often, survival comes at a terrible price. But you can't just sit here. Kaelen needs you, or at least, the hope that he still needs you. The Ever-Storm howls outside, a constant reminder of the world's indifference to your plight. But even in this desolate wasteland, a flicker of hope can ignite a wildfire. What will you do? Your story begins now.